Lying there in the dark, Reese refused to go back there. He reached over, touched Brantley’s arm, grounding them both for the moment. They were safe. Here, together, they were safe.
And when Brantley turned to him in the dark, Reese clung to him, letting their bodies take over, driving out the fear, the anger, the secrets from so long ago, replaced with an emotion he knew was stronger than all that, one he refused to let go of. In the dark, he loved Brantley, accepted his love in return. And when they used passion to burn off the residual fear, Reese held on to him, once again reminding them both they were safe.
When dawn arrived, Reese dragged himself out of bed. He never knew what to expect from Brantley after one of those nightmares. This morning, he seemed calm, relaxed. Almost too much so.
Reese didn’t press, didn’t urge him to talk. It was an understanding they had between them. They’d suffered their own individual hells, and one day they’d share, but until then, they gave each other space. But not too much.
A ten-mile run, showers, and breakfast went a long way to bringing order to chaos. They didn’t say much as they went through the motions, but the silence wasn’t oppressive. No, this morning it was necessary.
And by the time they headed over to the barn, things were returning to normal.
Well, normal was relative, he figured.
The entire team was slated to come in this morning. Even a couple of new people were starting today. The arrangement they had, at least for the time being, was that as long as there wasn’t a pressing case, they would have the weekends off. Reese figured that would likely change once they were running at full speed, and they’d have to take downtime when they could. At the moment, they were still attempting to build their client list, working with Sniper 1 Security to establish a reputation for the task force dedicated to finding missing people. Because it was a new venture for the established security firm, it was taking time.
Trey was already there looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Too bright-eyed. Too bushy-tailed. Reese remembered the man who’d come to work for the task force. In the beginning, Trey had been quiet, reclusive almost, borderline depressed. These days he was opening up, taking charge, and proving he was a damn good investigator. In fact, he was quickly becoming the best of them since he was the one who had closed the most cold cases—seven to date.
“Becs and Slade are startin’ today,” Brantley reminded Trey when they joined him in the barn. “Need to make sure they’ve got all the access they need.”
“Elana’s already workin’ on it,” Trey replied. “And I got a confirmation date from Evan. His official start date’ll be the thirteenth, although he said he’ll make himself available if we need him.”
Reese knew Evan had given notice, but with active cases underway, they’d figured it would take a few weeks to get him over here. The same with Jay and Darius, both having to give their employers notice. However, JJ suspected Darius would be showing up sooner rather than later, since his employer would likely invoke the confidentiality clause, letting him go rather than risk him learning more and potentially leaking information. According to her, that was standard practice in roles such as his.
So Jay, Darius, and Evan were to start next week, then Allison the week after. That only left Deck early next month. As long as everything worked out, they’d be fully functional by the beginning of October. That was definitely good news as far as Reese was concerned. He hated being in limbo, knew Brantley did, too. Getting the team focused was their next priority, and the sooner the better.
Reese glanced over at the fancy electronic board RT had supplied them with, saw the screen was open to the list of investigators. Dates had been added. Had Trey done that? Or had JJ updated it yesterday?
His attention shifted to the television screen mounted on the wall showing the security camera. Luca Switzer was rolling in now wearing what might just be a brand-new pair of Levi’s. The work boots on his feet weren’t new, rather worn and weathered, as was the ball cap with the rounded brim. Reese wouldn’t go so far as to say Luca was a good-looking man, but there was something about him. Charisma and charm, maybe. Whatever it was, his dark blue eyes always glittered with mischief, and a smile generally announced his arrival.
Aside from his reputation as the good ol’ boy popular with the ladies, Reese didn’t know Luca all that well, though he’d seen him around Coyote Ridge. Like Reese, the man was born and raised here. His family even had a small farm on the outskirts of town. From what Reese had heard, Luca was estranged from his father, the two of them usually butting heads in town whenever they ran into one another. Since father and son were both very vocal and equally hot-headed, he figured their encounters were like throwing gasoline on a fire.
“Howdy,” Luca greeted, smiling down at Trey as he passed.
“Mornin’,” Brantley said in return. “Grab some coffee, take a seat. When everyone gets here, we’ll get caught up for the mornin’.”
Luca nodded, eyed everyone speculatively, then headed to the kitchen.
Not five minutes later, JJ and Baz walked in, together but not together.
There was something different about them this morning, Reese realized.
“Mornin’,” Baz said with a smile, this one actually reaching his eyes.
Definitely something different.
Reese nodded his greeting at the same time Luca said, “Y’all had sex.”
Brantley chuckled, Trey snorted, and JJ turned an interesting shade of red.
“Sorry,” Luca added with a shit-eating grin. “Not my business.”
“You’re right,” JJ declared. “It’s not.”
He took her snippy remark in stride, grabbing an extra chair and pulling it over, straddling it while resting an arm on the back.
“Grab coffee if you need it,” Brantley instructed. “Then pull up a chair.”
“Can I put my stuff down first?” JJ muttered, heading for the stairs.
Reese took a sip from his mug, glancing at those surrounding him. He smiled to himself.
Never knew what to expect around this place, but one thing was for sure. It was never dull.
*
Half an hour later, once the team had trickled in, Brantley watched as they interacted with one another.
There were some familiar responses taking place: JJ and Baz glancing at one another every so often, Trey keeping his head down, hoping no one noticed him. Charlie, smiling as she interacted with Elana, both women seemingly happy to be here. Then there were the new interactions: Slade, ever the sly one, winking at Holly and making the young woman blush, Luca talking nonstop, Becs somehow managing to keep up with him.
It was interesting to say the least, but Brantley was eager to start tackling cold cases, not sit around chatting like this was a book club.
He cleared his throat, gave everyone a moment to finish their sentences and turn their attention to him.
“I know it’s gonna take some time for the newbies to settle in, but we’ve still got work to do. While each team will take its share of cold cases, there’s one case I want everyone to pitch in on whenever you have spare time.” He glanced over at Baz. “Where are we with the social media investigation?”
“Not much further than we were,” Baz answered, glancing at all the faces watching him. “Back in November, we worked with a Houston detective to locate a missing teenager,” he explained. “The case ended up not being related to this social media scam, but the detective thought it might be. He brought us up to speed on a group, or groups, of people who’re utilizing social media to insert themselves into virtual communities by joining online forums used by neighbors, parents, teachers to get together and help each other.”